Little girl serenades her beloved cat one last time before he passes away
Maybe you know Bailey – he’s pretty famous.
In fact, not only has he been on ABC News, CBS News, and The Ellen Show, but millions have visited his Facebook and Instagram accounts. And it all started with one sweet video.
That’s how it ended as well.
Loving Bailey
Bailey went viral for the first time in August of 2018 when Erin Merryn’s daughter Abigail was recorded sweetly singing “You Are My Sunshine” to him while gently stroking his face. They were both adorable and Bailey lived up to his owner’s description of the “most affectionate, loving, sweet, tolerant cat.”
Ms. Merryn had Bailey for 14 years. She got him in college and snuck him into her dorm room!
She told PEOPLE that she felt she’d “won the lottery with him.”
“I have always said if everyone had a Bailey there would be a lot less people in this world lonely or depressed. I always told people there was a little human inside Bailey.”
Saintly patience
She instilled that love of the animal in Abigail as well. And Bailey put up with all sorts of things to play with the little girl and her sister – including dress-up time!
Have you ever seen a cat so chill?!
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“It was an inseparable bond of laying on him, pushing him in strollers, giving him baths, taking baths with him, sitting in high chair feeding him with bibs on, laying in their laps with his full attention as they read to him or sang to him, sitting at a desk and playing school with them, lemonade stands, picnics on the front porch, and Halloween costumes,” Merryn told PEOPLE. “They would dress him up is dresses, princess shoes, play makeup on and he didn’t care. He just loved these girls and let them do whatever they wanted to him. It was incredible.”
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Saying goodbye
Sadly, we hardly got to know Bailey before he passed away.
Just a few months after becoming famous, he died of kidney failure. But luckily he was surrounded by family and passed peacefully in his mom’s lap while at the vet’s office.
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“I could not stop crying when he passed. It was one of the worst days of my life and I have had some pretty terrible life experiences,” Merryn said. “A part of the awful part of that day was not only losing my precious sweet boy but having to tell my 4-year-old Abby that we had to say goodbye to Bailey because he was really sick and they can’t make him better. The look in her face I will never forget.”
Losing a pet is devastating.
But the family took one more chance to chare Bailey and Abigail’s bond with the world.
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A final viral video
Since she learned to talk, Abigail has been singing “You Are My Sunshine” to Bailey. And the family released one final rendition – guest-starring Abigail’s sister Hannah as well (just 2 at the time) – as a way to help us all say goodbye. It was a great reminder of just how much the cat was loved.
After the video and the news of the cat’s death, fans around the world inundated the family with digital and physical well-wishes. Cards and gifts showed up for weeks.
“I was stunned to see the love from people around the world and amazed the power of the Internet has for people on the other side of the world able to find joy and laughter from a cat they have never met,” Merryn said.
Be sure to scroll down below to see the last serenade for the sweetest cat.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
Source: PEOPLE, YouTube – They Are My Sunshine, Instagram – @bailey_no_ordinary_cat